It is often undesirable to actuate an occupant protection device, such as an air bag, when the vehicle occupant is positioned close to the protection device. In order to remedy this problem, numerous complex systems have been developed to detect the position of the vehicle occupant relative to the protection device. Some systems utilize an array of ultrasonic sensors to detect the occupant position. Other systems utilize infrared sensors, microwave sensors or a combination of various sensing devices to detect the position of the vehicle occupant. Such position sensing equipment usually is expensive and requires complicated electronics.